The pitch is that an AI voice agent replaces your call centre. It doesn't, and suppliers who say it does create disappointed clients. What it does replace is the part of the call volume that was never worth a human.
Cost per minute
An AI voice agent runs roughly ₹4–₹12 per minute all-in, including telephony and model usage. A trained human agent in Navi Mumbai costs meaningfully more per productive minute once you include idle time, training and attrition.
But the comparison only holds for calls the AI can actually finish.
What AI handles well
- Answering calls outside working hours
- Appointment confirmation and rescheduling
- Payment and EMI reminders
- First-touch qualification within 60 seconds of a form fill
- High-volume repetitive outbound
What it doesn't
- Negotiation
- Genuinely angry customers
- Anything requiring judgement about an exception
- Complex technical troubleshooting
The realistic setup
AI takes first contact and everything after hours; humans take escalations and anything commercial. Most businesses find the AI closes out a majority of calls and hands over the rest with a summary already written.